The ripple effect: Institutionalising pro-environmental values to shift societal norms and behaviours

Kenter, Jasper O.; Reed, Mark S.; Everard, Mark; Reed, Mark; Kenter, Jasper

Abstract

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. Contemporary markets and societal norms externalise many ecosystem services important for a sustainable future. A range of external legal, market, social protocol and other mechanisms, referred to as ‘societal levers’, constrain or otherwise influence the behaviour of resource managers, and the expectations and assumptions of the society within which they operate. These ‘societal levers’ have progressively institutionalised evolving societal values, influencing markets and other choices. We use the STEEP (social, technological, economic, environmental and political) framework to explore case studies of societal transitions, analysing how emergent concerns become shared and ultimately transformed into ‘levers’, shifting societal norms. Emerging concerns become influential only when they are shared across societal sectors, and when broader implications are realised across multiple dimensions of the STEEP framework. We propose and advocate use of a ‘ripple effect’ of values as a means to direct and accelerate the pace at which environmental concerns shape mainstream societal norms and structures, and become institutionalised in the form of ‘societal levers’.

Citation

Kenter, J. O., Reed, M. S., Everard, M., Reed, M., & Kenter, J. (2016). The ripple effect: Institutionalising pro-environmental values to shift societal norms and behaviours. Ecosystem Services, 21(B), 230-240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2016.08.001

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 3, 2016
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Oct 25, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 21, 2017
• Journal: Ecosystem Services
• Print ISSN: 2212-0416
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 21
• Issue: B
• Pages: 230-240
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2016.08.001
• Keywords: shared values, social learning, transformation, ecosystem services, ecosystem approach, STEEP
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/907536
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2016.08.001